Flyers Lineup

Claude Giroux – Kevin Hayes – Joel Farabee

Oksar Lindblom – Nolan Patrick – Travis Konecny

James van Riemsdyk – Scott Laughton – Jakub Voracek

Michael Raffl – Connor Bunnaman – Nicolas Aube-Kubel

Ivan Provorov – Travis Sanheim

Erik Gustafsson – Justin Braun

Robert Hagg – Mark Friedman

Carter Hart – Brian Elliott

Samuel Morin

Sean Couturier (rib separation), Philippe Myers (fractured rib), Morgan Frost (dislocated shoulder)

Game Report

It was the bounce-back game that the Flyers were hoping for when they defeated the Sabres in shutout fashion on Tuesday night. But it came at a cost: Morgan Frost and Philippe Myers both left the game with injuries, and it was announced today that they’ll be absent for a while. Myers suffered a fractured rib and is considered week-to-week, and Frost dislocated his left should and will be out of the lineup indefinitely.

As a result, Connor Bunnaman and Mark Friedman entered the lineup for tonight’s game, and Samuel Morin was recalled from the AHL to the Philadelphia taxi squad.

With so much missing on the back end, and their most defensive forward still recovering from a rib separation, the Flyers needed to buckle down and come together as they hit the road for their first away series of the season. The first period of the Bruins’ home opener, however, didn’t look like quality Flyers hockey.

In their sole power play, the Philly team couldn’t even muster a single shot on goal. They were badly outshot in the opening frame, and the shots they did get just weren’t looking at all dangerous. The Bruins also dominated the faceoff circle, winning 13 of 17 in the period.

Carter Hart was by and far the Flyers’ best player in the early parts of the game, stopping all 14 Boston shots in the first period, and making some key saves during both Philadelphia penalty kills.

Much of the second period seemed to be going the same way, until David Krejci took a high-sticking penalty and captain Claude Giroux potted his first goal of the season on the power play. That seemed to jolt the bench into action, and things started to pick up from there. Kevin Hayes fired a centering shot from the circle that was broken up by a Boston defenseman, but Jake Voracek was there to corral the puck and dish it over to James van Riemsdyk who had gone to the net front. van Riemsdyk connected with the puck and shoveled it across the goal line to put the Flyers up 2-0.

Of course with the good, also comes some injury, as it seems to go lately for the Flyers. While trying to skate back to the bench after a shift, Friedman got tangled with Brad Marchand and ended up on the receiving end of an aggressive shove to the ice from the Bruins forward. Friedman went down face-first and came up bleeding pretty noticeably and eventually went down the tunnel for repairs.

The third period was a wild ride. The Bruins came out with a purpose and managed to tie the game within about two minutes of play. In fact, before tonight’s game they hadn’t scored an even-strength goal yet this season, but that’s exactly what they did twice at the top of the third.

The Flyers quickly tried to recover and Travis Sanheim found the back of the net when he drove up the slot and the puck deflected in off his skate. Not only did the Flyers regain the lead, 3-2, but it also marked Voracek’s 700th NHL point.

But then Scott Laughton took an untimely cross-checking penalty and the Bruins tied the game once again on the power play. Things started to look like they were getting out of control for Philadelphia when Brandon Carlo put the Boston ahead with a big point shot that found the back of the net.

To their credit, the Flyers power play units didn’t give up and showed their success earlier in the week wasn’t just a flash in the pan. Kevin Hayes dangled and danced toward the net and made a cross-ice pass to Voracek who quickly sent it net-front to van Riemsdyk for his second of the night.

The Flyers had a few chances in overtime to put the game away, but Tuuka Rask was up to the task and flat out robbed several Philadelphia shooters. Hart stood tall in the shootout, but ultimately Jake DeBrusk managed to get one past him, while the Flyers couldn’t solve Rask.

After the game, Alain Vigneault did confirm that Friedman was okay and that he was kept out of the remainder of the game just for precaution. The Flyers managed to get a point out of the night, but they’ll be hungry to finish strong and grab two points on Saturday before moving on from Boston.

Plus / Minus

▲  James van Riemsdyk, Kevin Hayes, Claude Giroux, Scott Laughton

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